By David Milliken
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's most prominent business lobby group plans to reverse its decision to be an official campaigner against Scottish independence after members quit over its stance.
The Confederation of British Industry has applied to de-register as a supporter of the anti-independence campaign ahead of September's referendum, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Friday.
The CBI's web site briefly carried a link entitled 'CBI asks electoral commission to nullify application under Scottish Referendum Act', which did not go to a web page. The link was subsequently removed.
The CBI and Britain's Electoral Commission, which is overseeing the referendum, declined to comment immediately on the application.
The source said the CBI believed that initial legal advice that the group should register as an official campaigner was flawed.
The registration by the CBI was condemned by some of its members who said the group had not sought their signoff over a decision that could jeopardise their neutrality in the increasingly bitter debate.
Several organisations - including the BBC and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen universities - have resigned from or suspended their membership of the CBI because they did not wish to be linked to the anti-independence campaign.
Organisations or individuals must register as campaigners if they want to spend more than 10,000 pounds ($16,800) on campaigning during the official referendum period.
The CBI, the leading group in Britain to represent large employers, has consistently argued against independence, saying it would cause uncertainty over currency, taxation, financial regulation and European Union membership and could harm businesses in Scotland which has a large financial sector.
(Reporting by David Milliken, Editing by William Schomberg and Angus MacSwan)